1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a pontoon boat and, more particularly, to a self-contained marine propulsion system that is removably attachable to the pontoon boat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Those skilled in the art of marine propulsion systems are aware of many different types and styles of pontoon boats. As used herein, the term “pontoon boat” shall mean a marine vessel which supports a deck surface on flotation devices. The flotation devices, in a typical application of a pontoon boat, are hollow or foam-filled tubes that are arranged in generally parallel relation with each other. The deck, or platform, of the pontoon boat extends across the upper portions of the flotation tubes. In most applications, a majority of the deck surface is a flat horizontal plane.
In a typical application, a pontoon boat is provided with an outboard motor that is attached to a rear portion of the support structure of the vessel. In some applications, the outboard motor can be provided with a jet pump attached to a lower portion of a driveshaft housing of the outboard motor. In other applications, not involving a jet pump, the outboard motor is typically provided with a conventional propeller that is supported for rotation by a gear case located at the bottom portion of the driveshaft housing. In jet pump applications, the gear case is replaced with a jet pump having an impeller.
Those skilled in the art of marine propulsion systems used in conjunction with pontoon boats are familiar with a detachable container, or pod, that can be fastened beneath the deck of the pontoon boat and provided with an inboard marine drive. In those types of applications, one or more propeller shafts extend rearwardly through the container and are driven by an engine located within the cavity provided by the container. In addition, certain applications of removably attachable containers used with pontoon boats can incorporate a sterndrive propulsion device.
Known marine propulsion devices of the type described immediately above do not provide a sterndrive or jet drive propulsion device within a container that permits the entire engine and drive to be disposed completely below the upper surface of the deck that extends between flotation tubes. In known applications, a portion of the marine propulsion system, such as the engine, extends upwardly through the plane of the upper surface of the deck of the pontoon boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,546, which issued to Miklos on May 2, 1972, describes a motor boat propelled pontoon boat. It relates to pontoon boats which normally carry a dingy for transporting the passengers to and from the pontoon boat. The stern end of the pontoon boat is provided with a novel structure for incapsulating a motor boat which provides the motive means to propel the pontoon boat. It combines the motor boat and pontoon boat to form an integral structure for purposes of propulsion of both crafts. Both crafts are separable when it is desired to use the motor boat as a tender craft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,801, which issued to Woodfill et al. on Oct. 4, 1977, describes a drive position signaling apparatus. A marine jet drive unit includes a nozzle which is mounted in a gimbal ring for pivoting about a horizontal axis for trimming of the drive jet. An electric motor drives a gear train including a rotating actuator shaft having an Acme nut actuator connected by a rigid linkage to the gimbal ring for trim positioning of the nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,561, which issued to Nickell on Feb. 9, 1993, describes a planing pontoon boat. The boat comprises elongated flotation units of generally circular cross-section positioned in spaced apart parallel relationship with each of the flotation units having planing fins extending longitudinally of the inboard and outboard sides of the flotation units near the bottom thereof to cause the pontoon boat to readily hydroplane. A wedge-shaped fin is provided on the underside of the outboard planing fins near the bow section to provide additional lift when turning at high speeds to improve control and stability on turns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,331, which issued to Hagan on Nov. 9, 1993, describes a motor pod for a pontoon boat. The pontoon boat is adapted to be propelled by an outboard motor, the boat having a deck and a pair of longitudinally extending parallel spaced apart pontoons depending from the deck and a means for mounting the outboard motor to the boat. The mounting means depends from the deck between the pontoons and comprises a pair of elongated substantially vertical spaced apart side walls having front and aft ends, the side walls becoming deeper and more spaced apart as they extend from their front ends to their aft ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,260, which issued to Granie et al. on Jul. 25, 1995, describes a pontoon-type boat. It comprises a deck having opposite sides and a modified tunnel hull supporting the deck and including a first outer sponson located adjacent one of the sides of the deck, a second outer sponson located adjacent the other of the sides of the deck and a center sponson which is located and spaced between the outer sponsons, which extend substantially the entire length of the boat, and which includes a rearward portion having a maximum depth and a maximum width, and a forward portion having a maximum width greater than the maximum width of the rearward portion and having a maximum depth greater than the maximum depth of the rearward portion, the forward and rearward portions defining therebetween a step.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,209, which issued to Jones on Mar. 9, 1999, discloses an automatic trim control system for a jet propelled watercraft. The system is intended for a marine jet drive and adjusts trim in response to water pressure in the jet drive duct immediately upstream of the impeller. The preferred system includes a mechanical actuator consisting of a spring biased link rod mounted to a resilient diaphragm located in an actuator housing. The disclosed invention is exemplary of jet drive marine propulsion devices and shows one particular configuration of a jet drive system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,074, which issued to Jones on Jun. 2, 1998, discloses an impeller mounting system for a personal watercraft. The mounting system for a jet propelled watercraft uses an impeller shaft having a tapered portion and an impeller hub having a coaxial opening with a corresponding tapered seat. The impeller hub is tightened onto the impeller shaft so that the tapered portion of the impeller shaft presses against the tapered seat of the coaxial opening in the impeller hub with sufficient force to prevent the impeller hub from slipping with respect to the impeller shaft when the impeller shaft rotates to drive the impeller hub. The invention illustrates one embodiment of an impeller that is used with a jet drive propulsion device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,187, which issued to Sohm on Jun. 15, 1999, describes a pontoon boat having a deck disposed over distal, watertight pontoons. Each pontoon comprises an elongated, generally cylindrical shell having a bow end consisting of an eccentric conical section extending upward at an angle out of the water. Splash rails, comprising fins protruding from the pontoon's shell, are disposed along the pontoon's inner and outer surfaces so that they extend substantially from the pontoon's bow end to its stern end.
United States Patent Des. 416,852, which issued to Clarke on Nov. 23, 1999, describes an ornamental design for a boat. The boat is a pontoon boat and includes a center tube supported between two flotation tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,762, which issued to Price on Jan. 25, 2000, describes a planing foil for twin hulled boats. The apparatus includes a mounting structure for connecting a planing foil to the boat with the foil positioned between and spaced from the pontoons generally amidships and straddling the transfer centerline of the boat. The foil is also positioned between the waterline and the lower surfaces of the pontoons when the boat is at rest so that the foil rises toward a planing position on the surface of the water as the boat is propelled therealong in order to lift the boat and reduce drag.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,969, which issued to Schell-Tomczak et al. on Nov. 12, 2002, describes a boat with a center pontoon and a separate motor mount. The center pontoon provides improved performance and an adjustable engine mount. The adjustable engine mount makes it possible to adjust the relative position of an outboard engine relative to the waterline of the boat. The center pontoon includes a relieved top surface for allowing a vertical adjustment movement of the engine mount. The mount has an elongated, mount body which is adjustably attached to the bottom of the hull of the boat by a pair of spaced apart, elongated mounting rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,620, which issued to Theisen et al. on Sep. 24, 2002, discloses an integrated external hydraulic trimming and steering system for an extended sterndrive transom assembly. The propulsion system is provided with a drive unit that is attachable to a transom of a marine vessel and provided with steering cylinder assemblies and trimming cylinder assemblies which are connected to a common location on a structural member, such as a gimbal ring. This arrangement improves the geometric relationship between the steering and trimming functions. In addition, the hydraulic steering system is provided with pressure relief valves that are located at the transom of the marine vessel in order to shorten the distance of the hydraulic conduits extending between the pressure relief valves and the steering cylinders.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,056, which issued to Schell-Tomczak et al. on Nov. 19, 2002, describes an engine mount for a pontoon boat. The mount makes it possible to adjust the relative position of an outboard engine relative to the waterline of the boat. The mount has an elongated, tapered, four-sided body which is attached to the bottom of the hull of the boat by a pair of spaced apart, elongated mounting rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,642, which issued to Taylor on Mar. 23, 2004, describes a tri-sponson boat hull and method of making boat hulls. The boat hull has an upper hull section, a pair of spaced apart substantially parallel elongated outer sponsons extending from a forward portion to a stern portion of a bottom of the upper hull section, the outer sponsons and upper hull section defining a tunnel therebetween; and an elongated center sponson extending along the bottom of the upper hull and positioned in the tunnel between and substantially parallel to the pair of outer sponsons and having a forward section with an upwardly extending trailing step wall defining an upward step in the center sponson, and an aft section that is located aft of the forward section, the aft section having an upwardly curved leading edge intersecting the step wall of the forward section. The upper hull section can have a planar bottom.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,939,184, which issued to Fishburn et al. on Sep. 6, 2005, describes an isolated motor pan for a watercraft. A dampening assembly used in watercraft to isolate the motor from the deck of the watercraft is described. In an embodiment of the invention, a frame including cross members and a plurality of brackets supports the deck. The dampening assembly extends from the brackets of the frame to the motor and retains the motor at a position ensuring the motor does not contact the frame. The only path available to the vibrations generated by the motor is represented by the dampening assemblies that direct the vibrations to the brackets and tubes, thereby eliminating the high amplitude, low frequency vibrations that readily transfer through the deck and frame structure.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/856,092, which was filed by Hopkins on May 28, 2004, describes a watercraft. The watercraft comprises a shell having an upper skin adapted to support at least one person, a lower skin defining a hull for contact with the water, an aperture extending through the upper and lower skin and defined by a sidewall enclosure between the lower skin and the upper skin to maintain the integrity of the shell, wherein the aperture removably secures a propulsion means for propelling the watercraft, such that a cavity within the shell remains water tight to allow for practical functioning when the propulsion means is removed.
The patents described above are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.